Why the taste of beer makes you want to drink more

Just a drop of beer on the tongue is enough to stimulate the desire to drink, even before alcohol has been absorbed into the system, according to a US study.

The taste fires up the brain's reward centre, prompting the release of the chemical dopamine — and the effect is stronger in men with a family history of alcoholism.

Researchers from Indiana University recruited 49 men and took brain scans to measure the effect of spraying water, sports drink and the men's favourite beer into their mouths.

After the spray of beer, the men were more likely to say they felt like an alcoholic drink.

"We believe this is the first experiment in humans to show that the taste of an alcoholic drink alone, without any intoxicating effect from the alcohol, can elicit this dopamine activity in the brain's reward centres," said study author Professor David Kareken.

Professor Dan Lubmann, director of Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, told ninemsn that this research adds to early studies that showed it's not just alcohol and drugs themselves that increase people's desire to consume them.

"Sight, sounds, smells, taste and environments that we associate with drinking actually has a big impact on our desire to consume those substances," he said.

"When we expose ourselves to certain situations, the brain gets excited and raises a chemical called dopamine, a chemical that is important for seeking out different activities. The brain associates lots of situations and places and sights and sounds with those rewarding activities and the brain immediately thinks the reward is available and drives us to pursue that activity."